Method for controlling moving pattern for laser treatment and laser irradiation device using same

ABSTRACT

Provided are a method of controlling motion pattern for a laser treatment and a laser irradiation apparatus using the same, which can perform the efficient laser treatment. The method of controlling a motion pattern for a laser treatment, the method includes constituting a three-dimensional image of an object; setting a region of therapy on which a laser is irradiated on a surface of the object using the three-dimensional image; setting a guide path passing through the region of therapy; setting a plurality of laser irradiation points arranged on the guide path; and sequentially irradiating the laser on a position corresponding to each of the laser irradiation point among the surface of the object; wherein the guide path includes a first section for entering the region of therapy, a second section for linearly moving at the same speed within the region of therapy, and a third section for reentering to the region of therapy by moving along a curved path while varying the speed outside the region of therapy; and the laser is irradiated at a constant frequency in the second section.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method of controlling motion patternfor a laser treatment and a laser irradiation apparatus using the same,which can control the motion pattern of the laser in the laserirradiation apparatus using a robot arm.

BACKGROUND ART

Today, a variety of laser treatment methods by irradiating the laserbeam on the skin have been developed to achieve the purpose oftreatment, etc., and have been still actively studying a medical laserapparatus for use the laser treatment methods.

The treatment methods using the laser has been using for a variety ofpurposes such as to promote hair growth or prevent hair loss, skin peel,skin regeneration, skin whitening, wrinkle or spot removal, or stainremoval, etc.

However, a user, such as a physician, manually operates the lasertreatment apparatus to perform the treatment in the conventional art.

Accordingly, there is a problem in that the reliability of the treatmentmay be decreased by lowering the accuracy of the treatment.

In addition, conventionally, there is an additional problem that of thetreatment time for taking the laser is excessively too long.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

An object of the present invention is to provide a method of controllingmotion pattern for a laser treatment and a laser irradiation apparatususing the same, which can perform the efficient laser treatment.

Technical Solution

A method of controlling a motion pattern for a laser treatment, themethod includes constituting a three-dimensional image of an object;setting a region of therapy on which a laser is irradiated on a surfaceof the object using the three-dimensional image; setting a guide pathpassing through the region of therapy; setting a plurality of laserirradiation points arranged on the guide path; and sequentiallyirradiating the laser on a position corresponding to each of the laserirradiation point among the surface of the object; wherein the guidepath includes a first section for entering the region of therapy, asecond section for linearly moving at the same speed within the regionof therapy, and a third section for reentering to the region of therapyby moving along a curved path while varying the speed outside the regionof therapy; and the laser is irradiated at a constant frequency in thesecond section.

An apparatus of controlling a motion pattern for a laser treatment, theapparatus includes a vision controlling unit for constituting athree-dimensional image of an object, and for setting a region oftherapy irradiated the laser on the surface of the object, a guide pathpassing through the region of therapy, and laser irradiation pointsarranged on the guide path; a laser unit for sequentially irradiatingthe laser to a position corresponding to the laser irradiation points inthe surface of the object; and a motion controlling unit for controllingmovement of the laser unit and laser irradiation based on the set guidepath and the laser irradiation points; wherein the guide path includes afirst section for entering the region of therapy, a second section forlinearly moving at the same speed within the region of therapy, and athird section for reentering to the region of therapy by moving along acurved path while varying the speed outside the region of therapy; andthe laser is irradiated at a constant frequency in the second section.

On the other hand, the laser irradiation method is making a computerprogram for performing him may be provided in the program itself orstored in a recording medium, it can be performed by the laserirradiation apparatus according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

In addition, the laser irradiation apparatus may use a wired or wirelessnetwork such as the Internet may be controlled as described above inconjunction with an external server.

Advantageous Effects

According to an embodiment of the present invention, it will be obtainedfollowing effects that the precision and the stability of the lasertreatment may be improved, and the operating time required to performthe laser treatment may also be reduced.

Further, it may be possible to control the motion speed and thefrequency inside and outside of a region of therapy in moving the laserusing the robot arm, thereby more precisely controlling the positions ofthe laser irradiation point.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention andtogether with the description serve to explain the principles of theinvention.

FIGS. 1 to 3 are block diagrams for explaining embodiments for theoverall structure of a laser irradiation apparatus according to thepresent invention.

FIGS. 4 to 29 are views for explaining the structure and the operationof a laser irradiation apparatus according to embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 30 is a flowchart illustrating a motion pattern control method fora laser treatment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 31 and 32 are views for explaining the first embodiment of a guidepath in which the laser unit is moved.

FIGS. 33 and 34 are views for explaining a second embodiment of a guidepath in which the laser unit is moved.

FIGS. 35 and 36 are views for explaining a second embodiment of a guidepath in which the laser unit is moved.

FIG. 37 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of a method ofadjusting the position of the laser irradiation point.

BEST MODE

Detailed exemplary embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The present invention may be modified in various ways and implemented byvarious exemplary embodiments, so that specific exemplary embodimentsare illustrated in the drawings and will be described in detail below.However, it is to be understood that the present invention is notlimited to the specific exemplary embodiments, but includes allmodifications, equivalents, and substitutions included in the spirit andthe scope of the present invention.

On the other hand, although the first and/or the terms of the second andso on in the present invention can be used in describing variouselements, but the above elements shall not be restricted to the aboveterms. These terms are only to distinguish one component from othercomponents, for example within that range departing from the scope ofthe concept of the present invention, a first element could be termed asecond element, Similarly, the second component may be named as a firstcomponent.

As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations ofone or more of the associated listed items.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being“connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directlyconnected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may bepresent. In contrast, it will be understood that when an element isreferred to as being “directly connected” or “directly coupled” toanother element, there are no intervening elements present.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms are intended to include the plural formsas well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,”“includes,” and/or “including,” when used herein, specify the presenceof stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/orcomponents, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or moreother features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components,and/or groups thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein have the same meaning ascommonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which thisinvention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such asthose defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted ashaving a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context ofthe relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overlyformal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

In the following description, it is explained as an example that thelaser is irradiated to the facial skin of the patient for ease ofexplanation, but the apparatus and the method according to the presentinvention can be applied whatever as long as irradiating the laser beamon the surface of a given object.

The accompanying drawings are intended to illustrate aspects of thepresent invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limitedto this. In addition, the attached drawings will be noted that theportion or component is disposed is enlarged/reduced to better explainthe characteristics of the present invention.

Hereinafter, a laser irradiation apparatus using a robot arm and amethod thereof according to the present invention is described in detailwith reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 3 are block diagrams for explaining embodiments for theoverall structure of the laser irradiation apparatus according to thepresent invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the laser irradiation apparatus 10 may include ascanner 300, a robot arm 100, and a controlling unit 200.

The scanner 300 may collect raw data by scanning an object. Here, theraw data may include two-dimensional image and depth information.

The two-dimensional image may include color information, the diagnosisof the particular condition, such as telangiectasia may be possibleaccording to the color information of a patient's skin. Further, thescanner may detect the size, location, or depth information, etc. forpores, scars, or wrinkles of the patient's face using thetwo-dimensional images and the depth information.

The scanner 300, as shown in FIG. 2, may include a color sensor 310 forphotographing the two-dimensional color images, and an IR projector 320and an IR sensor 330 for obtaining the three-dimensional depth data.

If the IR projector 320 may irradiate the IR light on the surface of anobject 400, that is the surface of the patients' skin, the IR sensor 330would obtain the depth data by detecting the IR light reflected from thesurface of the object 400.

The color sensor 310 may obtain the two-dimensional color image byphotographing the surface of the object.

The robot arm 100 may have an end-effector (EE) 101, as shown in FIG. 3,and irradiates the laser on the surface of the object 400 according tothe control of the controlling unit 200. Specifically, the robot arm 100may irradiate with the laser to the surface of the object 400 inresponse to a guide path (GP) through the end-effector 101. Such therobot arm 100 may be considered as a manipulator.

The controlling unit 200 may control the overall function and operationof the laser irradiation apparatus 10.

The controlling unit 200 may include a vision controlling unit 210 and amotion controlling unit 220.

The vision controlling unit 210 may receive the raw data having thetwo-dimensional image and the depth information transmitted from thescanner 300, and configure the three-dimensional image of the object 400on the basis of the raw data.

Here, the origin position of the raw data and the direction of thecoordinates may vary depending on the object 400, for example, the shapeand volume of the face, or various causes such as the scan startingpoint of the scanner 300, etc.

In addition, the vision controlling unit 210 may adjust the coordinatesin alignment for the raw data. For this adjustment, the visioncontrolling unit 210 may detect the position of objects such as eyes, ora nose using face recognition algorithm, and obtain aligning homogeneousmatrix.

The vision controlling unit 210 may set a region of interest (ROI) onthe surface of the object 400 in the three-dimensional image.

The region of interest (ROI) may be a region including a portion that ofrequiring the laser irradiation, and set the region of interest (ROI)may be set by the user (e.g., physician), or may be automatically set bythe three-dimensional image process.

For example, the user may set the region of interest (ROI) by clickingon the four corner points on the facial surface, and in this case, thenormal vector corresponding to each of the corner point may be obtained.

On the other hand, the vision controlling unit 210 may determine atleast one of the color or the contrast of the surface of the object 400based on the data transmitted form the scanner 300, and set the regionof interest based on the determined result.

Specifically, the vision controlling unit 210 may detect a portion wherethe color or/and the contrast of the surface of the object 400 is (orare) different form the two-dimensional color image of the object 400photographed by the scanner 300. In addition, the vision controllingunit may set the region of the interest to be included the other portionwhere the color and/or contrast is (or are) different than anotherportion.

More specifically, the reason for darkly appearing a specific portion ismainly due to the pigment of the depth of the blood vessels, otherwisedue to the shaded region by the contour of the skin.

Therefore, an algorithm may be applied to distinguish the regions whichdarkly appear due to the pigment or blood vessels of the face or darklyappear in the shade region due to the contour of the skin, and thedermatological treatment method may be changed depending on thisdistinction.

For example, if the shaded region, caused by the contour of the skin, isoccurred, it is caused by the skin stain or the atrophy of thesubcutaneous fat layer due to skin aging, thereby treating firmnesstreatment, fac implants, fillers, and the like.

Further, when the shaded region caused by the scar is occurred, it maybe necessary the scar treatment.

In the following, it may be referred to as a region of therapy (ROT)which is necessary for treatment by irradiating the laser on the surfaceof the object.

For example, the region of therapy (ROT) may be liver spots, freckles,burn marks, tattoos, acne, dark circles, and the like, those areoccurred in the human skin, the present invention is not limited tothis, and it may be treatable regions by irradiating the laser ofvarious kinds of wavelength or frequency.

The vision controlling unit 210 may determine this portion where colorand/or contrast are different surroundings as the region of therapy(ROT).

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the region ofinterest (ROI) and the region of therapy (ROT) may be set separately asdescribed above, but may be set only the region of therapy (ROT) whichis actually irradiated as needed.

The vision controlling unit 210 constitutes a motion pattern on theobject for the laser treatment on the basis of the determined (or set)information as described above, and the motion pattern may be configuredby setting the guide path (GP) passing through the region of interest(ROI) or the region of therapy (ROT).

Then, the vision controlling unit 210 sets a plurality of pointsarranged on the guide path (GP). The plurality of points may representthe position where the laser is irradiated on the surface of the object,and the point on the guide path (GP) displayed on the two-dimensionalimage may be projected on the three-dimensional image.

In addition, the vision controlling unit 210 obtains the actual laserirradiation points to be irradiated on the surface of the object byselecting only those points positioned within the region of therapy(ROT) of the plurality of points arranged on the guide path (GP).

The motion controlling unit 220 controls the operation of the robot arm100 on the basis of the information obtained by the vision controllingunit 210, while the end-effector 101 irradiates the laser as closelymoving to the surface of the object.

Here, the interval between the surface of both the end-effector 101 andthe surface of the object during the laser irradiation are preferablyand constantly maintained during the movement, the interval may be setbased on a focal distance of the laser.

For example, the motion controlling unit 220 may control the movementand the laser irradiation of the robot arm 100 on the basis of the guidepath (GP) and the laser irradiation points set in the vision controllingunit 210.

In addition, the motion controlling unit 220 may emergently stop thelaser irradiation by urgently stopping the robot arm 100, for example,the operation of the robot arm 100 may be stopped by the action or thevoice of the doctor or the patient.

The laser irradiation apparatus 10 according to the present inventionmay each operate in a manual mode or an automatic mode.

For example, in the automatic mode, the scanner 300 scans the surface ofthe object 400 to obtain the information about the surface of the object400, and the controlling unit 200 may irradiate with the laser on thesurface of the object 400 by controlling the robotic arm 100 on basis ofthe obtained information.

On the other hand, in the manual mode, the user such as a doctor has thecontrolling authorization, the robot arm 100 is operated by the controlof the user.

It has been described for the configuration of the laser irradiationapparatus with FIGS. 1 to 3 as described above, the present inventionshall not be limited, and some of the illustrated elements may beomitted or added additional elements as needed.

For example, the laser irradiation apparatus 10 further includes acomputing unit (not shown) for performing a function of ArtificialIntelligence (AI) and a database (not shown) for processing big data.

The laser irradiation method using the laser irradiation apparatus 10according to the present invention will be described in detail withreference to the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 4 to 25 are views for explaining the operation of the laserirradiation apparatus according to embodiments of the present invention,the same explanation as explained with reference to FIGS. 1-3 of theoperation and the construction of the laser irradiation apparatus 10will be omitted below.

Referring to FIG. 4, the controlling unit determines whether the currentsetting mode is the automatic mode or not or not (step S100). If theautomatic mode is not, the controlling unit determines whether thecurrent setting mode is the manual mode or not (S110).

For example, the user may set by selecting one of the manual mode or theautomatic mode using a button mounted in the laser irradiation apparatus10 or a user interface (UI) provided in a touch screen.

It is determined that if the current setting mode is not the manual modein the step S110, it is performed a different function previouslypredetermined (for example, Default setting) (S120).

On the other hand, if the current setting mode is the manual mode, it isdetermined that the setting status of the manual mode (S130), thecontrolling authorization is given to the user (S140).

Here, the operation of giving the controlling authorization to the usermeans that the controlling unit 200 may judge for themselves and limitthe operation of the robot arm 100.

In the manual mode, the user may operate the robotic arm 100 on theirown while performing the laser treatment.

On the other hand, it is determined that the current setting mode is theautomatic mode in the step S100, the scanner 300 scans the surface ofthe object 400 according to the control of the controller 200 (S150). Asa result of the scanning by the scanner 300, the raw data including thetwo-dimensional image and the depth information may be generated.

Here, a screen mode is available to be moved the irradiation position ofthe laser along the motion of the pointer on a monitor.

Then, the vision controlling unit 210 constitutes the three-dimensionalimage on the basis of the raw data obtained from the scanner 300 (S160).

For example, the canner may scan a plaster cast of a head shape of aperson, as shown FIG. 5(A), it may be constituted the three-dimensionalimage as shown FIG. 5(B).

Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, it will be described wherethe plaster cast of the head shape is regarded as the object 400.

After constituting the three-dimensional image, the region of interest(ROI) is set on the surface of the object 400 in the three-dimensionalimage (S170).

For example, the first corner point (Pcor, 1), the second corner point(Pcor, two), the third corner point (Pcor, 3), and the fourth cornerpoint (Pcor, 4) may be set on the surface of the object 400 in thethree-dimensional image, as shown in FIG. 5 (C). Then, the region ofinterest (ROI) may be set with a region partitioned by the vertices withfour corner points such as the first, the second, the third and the fourcorner points.

In this embodiment, the region of interest (ROI) is set using the fourcorner points, but the number of corner points to be used the conditionsmay be changed. For example, it is possible to set the region ofinterest (ROI) by using at least three corner points.

Hereinafter, the first corner point (Pcor, 1), the second corner point(Pcor, two), the third corner point (Pcor, 3), and the fourth cornerpoint (Pcor, 4) may be referred as the first point (P1), the secondpoint (P2), the third point (P3), and the fourth point (P4),respectively.

Then, the guide path (GP) passing through the region of interest (ROI)may be set (step S180).

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 6, it is possible to set the guidepath (GP) within the region of interest (ROI).

The starting point of the guide path (GP), i.e. the point at which thelaser irradiation is started, is expressed as Ps, while the end point ofthe guide path (GP), i.e. the point at which the laser irradiation isended, is expressed as Pt.

Then, the laser is irradiated in sequence to the laser irradiationpoints on the surface of the object corresponding to the guide path (GP)(Step S190).

The guide path (GP) may include a path where the robot arm 100 isirradiated with the laser. In other words, the robot arm 100 mayirradiate with the laser to the surface of the object as moving inresponse to the guide path (GP).

The guide path (GP) may be regarded as including a path connecting thehitting point of the laser.

On the other hand, the regions of interest (ROI) may be set based on atleast one a color, contrast, contour and texture of the surface of theobject 400. It will be explained with reference to FIG. 7 as follows.

Referring to FIG. 7, in S170 step of setting the region of interest(ROI), the color and/or contrast of the surface of the object 400 isfirstly determined (step S171). Here, the color and/or contrast of thesurface of the object 400 may be determined from the two-dimensionalcolor image of the object 400.

Since, the determined value is compared with the reference value (S172step), the region of therapy (ROT), which is different surroundings atleast one of contrast and contour, is detected from the surface of theobject 400 according to the comparison result (step S173).

For example, a region of normal (RON) and the region of therapy (ROT)may be distinguished on the basis of at least one of a color, contrast,contour and texture on the surface of the object 400.

As shown in FIG. 8, when the total 16 of unit areas are arranged in 4×4matrix form, the number expressed on each of the unit area may indicatethe brightness value.

Here, it is assumed that the brightness value is 40, it is determinedthe region of therapy (ROT) with unit areas of (1, 1), (2, 1), (3, 1),(3, 2), (3, 3), (3, 4), (4, 1), (4, 2), (4, 3) and (4, 4) that thebrightness value is smaller than 40, and the remained portion may bedetermined as the region of normal (RON).

The brightness of the region of therapy (ROT) may appear relativelydarker than other portion, that is lower than the brightness of theregion of normal (RON). Similarly, the color of the region of therapy(ROT) may appear relatively thicker than the color of the region ofnormal (RON). The thicker color means more darker than surroundings.

As such, the brightness value of the region of therapy (ROT) may be alower portion than a predetermined reference brightness value. Thereference brightness value may be varied in various ways depending onthe surface state or characteristics (for example, contour or texture,etc.) of the object 400 or other factors such as the color tone.

Here, the reference brightness value may be a constant, but preferablymay be set differently for each patient or treatment region. Forexample, the reference brightness value may be varied by considering abrightness value of the surrounding region to coincide the skin tonewith a region adjacent to the region of therapy (ROT).

If the face of White is bright as a whole, the reference brightnessvalue may be set relatively high based on the brightness value. Thereason is that if the face is appeared with bright white as a whole, aportion requiring the treatment such as dots, spots required, i.e. theregion of therapy, is more prominently appeared.

On the other hand, if the face is Mongoloid appeared relatively dark asa whole than Whites, the reference brightness value may be setrelatively low compared with the brightness value of Whites.

After detecting the region of therapy (ROT), then the regions ofinterest (ROI) is set (S174).

As described above, the region of interest (ROI) includes the region oftherapy (ROT), the region of interest (ROI) and the region of therapy(ROT) may be equally set.

As illustrated in FIG. 9(A), it is assumed that the region of therapy(ROT), where brightness, color, contour, and texture, etc. are differentwithin the region of normal RON, is included on a predetermined region(R1) of the surface of the object 400, the form of the region of therapy(ROT) is arbitrarily set for convenience of the description and thepresent invention is not limited thereto.

In this case, as illustrated in FIG. 9(B), it may be set the first,second, third, and fourth points (P1, P2, P3, and P4) to be contactedthe first line (L1) connecting the first point (P1) and the second point(P2) with the region of therapy (ROT), the second line (L2) connectingthe second point (P2) and the fourth point (P4) with the region oftherapy (ROT), the third line (L3) connecting the third point (P3) andthe fourth point (P4) with the region of therapy (ROT), and the fourthline (L4) connecting the fourth point (P4) and the first point (P1) withthe region of therapy (ROT).

In addition, regions divided with the first, the second, the third, andthe fourth points (P1, P2, P3, and P4) may be set as the region ofinterest (ROI).

Here, the region of therapy (ROT) may be also included inside of theregion of normal (RON), the region of interest (ROI) may include oneportion of the region of normal (RON) as well as the region of therapy(ROT).

Hereinafter, it is assumed that a portion included within the region ofinterest (ROI) in the region of normal (RON) is a second region ofnormal (RON2) and the other portion does not include within the regionof interest (ROI) in the region of normal (RON) is a first region ofnormal (RON1).

In the case of FIG. 9, as setting the region of interest (ROI), it isdescribed only one case that a line connecting two near points iscontacted on the region of therapy (ROT), the present invention may notbe limited thereto.

For example, as in a case of FIG. 10, at least one or all lines (L1, L2,L3, and L4) connecting two near points is (or are) not in contact withthe region of therapy (ROT).

Thus, the method of setting the region of interest (ROI) may be changedin various ways.

In case that the shape of the region of therapy (ROT) is the polygonalshape, it may be occurred that the region of therapy (ROT) and theregion of interest (ROI) are same depending on the set position of thepoint.

On the other hand, the guide path (GP) is capable of being set withinthe region of therapy (ROT).

For example, it is possible to set the guide path (GP) with the zigzagform within the region of therapy (ROT), as shown in FIG. 11.

As such, the guide path (GP) is passing through the region of therapy(ROT), the laser is capable of being irradiated in the region of therapy(ROT).

On the other hand, it is possible to control the fluence and/orfrequency of the laser in the beginning step and the end step of thelaser irradiation.

The fluence of the laser represents the laser energy (J/cm²) deliveredper unit area, it may means the strength or intensity of the laser. Andthe laser frequency may means the emission frequency of the laser.

Referring to FIG. 12(A), at least one of the fluence or frequency of thelaser is gradually raised in the beginning step of irradiating thelaser, while at least one of the fluence or frequency of the laser isgradually decreased in the end step of the irradiating the laser.

In the following description, the beginning step of the laserirradiation is referred to an acceleration section (D1), while the endstep of the laser irradiation is referred to a reduction section (D3).

As shown in FIG. 12(B), the moving speed of the robot arm 100 may beincreased in the acceleration section (D1). That is, the movement speedof the robot arm 100 may be accelerated.

The occurrence reason of the acceleration section (D1) is because ittakes some time from the time of supplying the power operating the robotarm 100 to the motor to the time of reaching the desired rotation speed.

In addition, in the deceleration section (D3), the moving speed of therobot arm 100 may be reduced. The reason why the deceleration section D3is generated is that it takes some time from the time of shutting outthe power supply to the motor operating the robot arm 100 to the stop ofthe motor similarly to the acceleration section D1.

In this way, when the fluence and/or frequency of the laser is graduallyrisen in acceleration section (D1) and is gradually decreased in thedeceleration section (D3), it may be possible to uniformly irradiate thelaser.

The fluence and/or frequency of the laser may be substantiallyproportional to the moving speed of the robot arm 100.

At this time, a maintain section (D2) may be occurred between theacceleration section (D1) and the deceleration section (D3), the fluenceand/or frequency may substantially and constantly be maintained in themaintain section (D2) if the laser irradiation is not stopped.

The speed of the robot arm 100 may be substantially and constantlymaintained in the maintain section (D2), for example, the speed of thearm 100 may be constantly maintained during the section (D2) from thetime at which the acceleration of the robot arm 100 is ended to the timeat which the deceleration is started.

As shown in FIG. 13(A), it may be possible that of increasing with stepcurve the fluence and/or frequency of the laser in the accelerationsection (D1) or decreasing in the deceleration section (D3).

In this case, it may be considered to gradually raise the fluence and/orfrequency of the laser in the acceleration section (D1), and graduallydecrease the fluence and/or frequency of the laser in the decelerationsection (D3).

On the other hand, the guide path (GP) may be possible to deviateoutside the region of therapy (ROT) within the region of interest (ROI).

For example, as shown in FIG. 14 when the region of interest (ROI)include the region of therapy (ROT) and the region of normal, i.e., thesecond region of normal (RON2), the guide path (GP) may be passed allregions of the region of therapy (ROT) and the second region of normal(RON2).

In this case, the robot arm for irradiating the laser is turned on incorrespondence to the region of therapy (ROT) or turned off incorrespondence with the second region of normal (RON2).

Thus, it is possible to set the guide path (GP) without the relationshipof the shape of the region of therapy (ROT) within the region ofinterest (ROI).

Further, the guide path (GP) includes a portion passing through theregion of therapy (ROT) and the other portions (T1, T2, T3, and T4)passing through the region of normal (RON2) deviating outside the regionof therapy (ROT).

As shown in FIG. 15, the robot arm 100 may turn off the laserirradiation corresponding to the portion passing through the secondregion of normal (RON2) in the guide path (GP). In other words, it isconsidered that the robot arm 100 may turn on/off the laser irradiationdepending on at least one color, brightness, and contour of the surfaceof the object 400 in the course of irradiating the laser along the guidepath (GP).

That is, the robot arm 100 moves corresponding to the guide path (GP)and may turn on the laser irradiation corresponding to the portion,where the color is appeared more darker or the brightness is lower thanthe surroundings, that is the region of therapy (ROT) and turn off thelaser irradiation corresponding to the portion, where the color isappeared more lighter or the brightness is higher than the surroundings,that is the region of normal (RON).

Referring to FIG. 15, it may be known that the laser frequency and/orfluence is set substantially zero in the portions (T1, T2, T3, and T4)where the robot arm 100 is passing through the second region of normal(RON2).

In this case, the movement of the robot arm is possible to maintainsubstantially and constantly, thereby improving the accuracy of thetreatment.

On the other hand, it is possible to adjust at least one of thefrequency, the irradiation time, the number of the laser irradiation,the fluence of the laser depending on the degree of color and/orbrightness of the region of therapy (ROT) under the control of themotion controlling unit 220.

Referring to FIG. 16, the region of therapy (ROT) may include the firstregion of therapy (ROT1) and the second region of therapy (ROT2).

Here, the color of the second region of therapy (ROT2) may be darkerthan the first region of therapy (ROT1), or the brightness of the secondregion of therapy (ROT2) may be lower than the brightness of the firstregion of therapy (ROT1).

Alternatively, the brightness of the second region of therapy (ROT2) maybe lower than the critical brightness value predetermined in advance,while the brightness of the first region of therapy (ROT1) may be higherthan the critical brightness value predetermined in advance.

In this case, the second region of therapy (ROT2) may be considered as aportion required intensive care compared to the first region of therapy(ROT1).

In this embodiment of the present invention, it is referred to as thefirst point X1 for a boundary point between the second region of normal(RON2) and the first region of therapy (ROT1) on the guide path (GP) assequentially moving at the starting point Ps of the laser, the secondpoint X2 for a boundary point between the first region of therapy (ROT1)and the second region of therapy (ROT2), the third point X3 for aboundary point between the second region of therapy (RON2) and thesecond region of normal (ROT2), the fourth point X4 for a boundary pointbetween the second region of normal (RON2) and the first region oftherapy (ROT1), the fifth point X5 for a boundary point between thefirst region of therapy (ROT1) and the second region of therapy (ROT2),the sixth point X6 for a boundary point between the second region oftherapy (ROT2) and the first region of therapy (ROT1), the seventh pointX7 for a boundary point between the first region of therapy (ROT1) andthe second region of therapy (ROT2), and the eighth point X8 for aboundary point between the second region of therapy (ROT2) and the firstregion of therapy (ROT1).

As shown in FIG. 17, the robot arm may turn off the laser irradiation insections from the start point (Ps) of the laser to the first point (X1)and from the third point (X3) to the fourth point (X4), respectively.

For example, since Ps-X1 section and X3-X4 section are included in thesecond region of normal (RON2), thus the robot arm 100 may not irradiatethe laser.

On the other hand, the frequency of the laser is set at the firstfrequency (f1) in X1-X2 section, X4-X5 section, X6-X7 section and thesection from the eighth point (X8) to the beginning of the decelerationsection (D3).

And, it may be gradually varied the gradation of the irradiationconditions through the variations of the laser irradiation frequency orthe laser irradiation fluence by the variation in velocity of theend-effector 101, or the adjustment of the laser fluence or pulseduration in X1, X3 and X4 points.

Further, in the other points except X1, X3 and X4 points, the gradationof the irradiation conditions as described above may be graduallyachieved.

On the other hand, in X2-X3, X5-X6, and X7-X8 sections, the frequency ofthe laser may set with a second frequency (f2) that is higher than thefirst frequency (f1).

In this case, the laser, which is relatively stronger, may be irradiatedon the second region of therapy (ROT2) thereby improving the treatmentefficiency.

Referring to FIG. 18(A), the frequency of the laser may equally set asthe first frequency (f1) in X1-X3 section, X4-X8 section and a sectionfrom the eighth point (X8) to the beginning of the deceleration section(D3).

Thus, while maintaining the frequency of the laser, as shown in FIG.18(B), the movement speed of the robot arm 100 may set at the firstspeed (V1) in a section from a point of the end of the accelerationsection (D1) to the second point X2, X3-X5 section, X6-X7 section, andthe section from the eighth point (X8) to the beginning of thedeceleration section (D3).

On the other hand, the movement speed of the robot arm 100 may be set atthe second speed (V2) which is slower than the first speed (V1) inX2-X3, X5-X6, and X7-X8 sections.

In this case, the laser may irradiate relatively longer than the secondregion of therapy (ROT2) thereby improving the treatment efficiency.

That is, in the case that the speed of the end-effecter (EE) and thefluence of the laser are constant and the emission frequency of thelaser is higher, the overlapping rate of the laser is relatively higherin the second region of therapy (ROT2), thereby providing more amount ofthe laser energy.

On the other hand, for the second region of therapy (ROT2), the numberof the treatment may be set a lot more than the first region of therapy(ROT1). For this, it will be described below referring to FIG. 19.

FIG. 19(A) shows the status that the robot arm 100 may irradiate thelaser for the first laser treatment on the surface of the object 400along the guide path (GP) within the region of interest (ROI), whileFIG. 19(B) shows the status that of performing the second laserirradiation carried out after the end of the first laser treatment.

Referring to FIG. 19(A), the robot arm 100 may irradiate the laser inX1-X3 section, X4-X8 section and a section from the eighth point (X8) tobefore the deceleration section (D3), in which the frequency of thelaser may be equally set at the first frequency (f1).

Referring to FIG. 19(B), in the second course of the laser treatment,the robotic arm 100 may irradiate the laser in X2-X3 section, X5-X6section, and X7-X8 section corresponding to the second region of therapy(ROT2), in which it may be equally set to the frequency of the lasercorresponding to the difference between the second frequency (f2) andthe first frequency (f1).

Thus, the therapeutic effect similar to that of irradiating the laser ofthe second frequency (f2) may be occurred in the second region oftherapy (ROT2).

On the other hand, it may be preferable to set the guide path (GP) withthe spiral type. It will be explained in detail as below.

Referring to FIG. 20, it is possible to set the guide path (GP) ofhelical type to start from the central region of the region of interest(ROI) and to end at the outer periphery. That is, the starting point(Ps) of the guide path (GP) may be located in the central region of theregion of interest (ROI) relatively more than the end point (Pt).

Thus, if the guide path (GP) is set to be the helical type, the robotarm 100 is prevented from suddenly changing directions, so that thelaser may be more uniformly irradiated to the surface of the object 400.

Even in the case of setting the guide path (GP) of helical type, asshown in FIG. 21, the guide path (GP) may pass through both the secondregion of normal (RON2) and the region of therapy (ROT) together.

In this case, the laser irradiation may be turned off at the portions(T11, T12, and T13) passing through the second region of normal (RON2)on the guide path (GP).

Referring to FIG. 22, it is also possible that the guide path (GP) maybe out of the region of interest (ROI). In such a case, the therapeuticeffect may be enhanced by irradiating more densely the laser onto theregion of therapy (ROT).

It is possible to turn off the laser irradiation corresponding to aportion that deviates from the region of interest (ROI) on the guidepath (GP).

The shape of the guide path (GP) may be variously changed under thespiral condition.

For example, as in the case of FIG. 23, it is possible to set the guidepath (GP) with the elliptical shape when the region of therapy (ROT) isformed with the elliptical shape.

According to the present invention, as in the case of FIG. 24, theend-effector 101 of the robot arm 100 preferably irradiates the laserapproximately perpendicular to the surface of the object 400 to increasethe therapeutic efficacy and to improve the treatment accuracy.

To this end, the robot arm 100 may be desirable with degree of freedom(DOF). Specifically, the robot arm 100 may be more desirable to have 5degrees of freedom, and it is preferably have at least 6 degrees offreedom for exceptional circumstances.

FIG. 25 illustrates the structure of the laser irradiation apparatusaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. The laserirradiation apparatus includes a laser emitter, a motor, a motor drive,a reflection mirror, and an end effector (EE) irradiate the laser ontothe surface of the object 400, that is the plaster cast of the headshape.

Referring to FIG. 25, the motor and the motor drive operate the robotarm 100. When the laser emitter irradiates the laser, the reflectionmirror reflects the laser at a predetermined angle to reach theend-effector (EE), the end-effector (EE) connected to the end terminalof the robot arm 100 may irradiate the laser on the surface of theobject 400.

For example, the motor and the motor drive may be controlled by themotion controlling unit 220 so that the end-effector (EE) is moved alongthe guide path (GP) set by the vision controlling unit 210.

In addition, the laser emitter may be controlled by the motioncontrolling unit 220 so that the laser is irradiated onto the laserirradiation points set by the vision controlling unit 210.

Referring to FIG. 26, it may be seen that the guide path (GP) is set ina spiral on the surface of the object 400. FIG. 26 shows that it isphotographed the laser irradiation on the surface of the object 400 in aconstant duration and implemented by the shape of the guide path (GP).

On the other hand, it is possible to stop the laser irradiationdepending on the conditions or modify the guide path. It will bedescribed as follows.

Referring to FIG. 27, the motion of the object 400 may be determinedafter setting the guide path (GP) or irradiating the laser (S200). Forexample, if the object 400 is a person's head, it may be determinedwhether there is a movement in a corresponding section or not by lookingat a specific body such as a nose, both eyes. Or, if the surface of theobject 400 is moved, for example, the skin of a person is moved cause bythe reasons such as convulsions in the skin of a person's face, it maybe considered that the movement of the object 400 is exist.

As determined result, if there is no motion of the object 400, it may bemaintained a predetermined guide path (GP) (S210).

On the other hand, if it is determined that the motion of the object 400may be measured, it may measure the amount of motion of the object (400)(S220). The measurement of the amount of motion of the object 400 meansto be determined that how much the object 400 is moved.

It is determined that whether the amount of motion exceeds a thresholdrange previously set or not as the result of measuring the motion amount(S230).

It determined that, if the amount of motion of the object 400 is greaterthan the threshold range previously set, it is possible to perform anemergency stop mode (S240). In this case, it is possible to urgentlystop the laser irradiation.

On the other hand, if the amount of motion of the object 400 does notexceed the threshold range, the region of interest (ROI) may reset inconsideration of the motion amount (S250).

In this embodiment, it is considered that the motion controlling unit220 compensates or corrects the guide path, when the scanner 300captures the motion of the object 400, and the vision controlling unit210 newly set the region of interest (ROI).

In addition, the guide path (GP) may also be modified corresponding tothe reset of the region of interest (ROI) (S260).

For example, as in the case of FIG. 28, if the object 400 is movedtoward left upper side 1 cm, then the region of interest (ROI) is alsomoved toward the left upper side 1 cm. Correspondingly, the guide path(GP) may also be moved toward the upper left 1 cm.

Then, the laser may be irradiated on the surface of the object 400corresponding to the modified guide path (GP) (S270).

As such, if the motion of the object 400 is occurred in the lasertreatment process, it may be possible to modify the guide path (GP)according to the motion of the object 400.

On the other hand, in the above description, the object 400 is moved up,down, left or right on the same plane, it may be also be adapted whenmoving back and forth by maintaining the interval between theend-effecter (EE) of the laser irradiation apparatus and the surface ofthe object 400.

In case that the vibration is generated in the laser irradiationapparatus 10 and the force is applied, it is possible to perform theemergency stop mode.

For example, as shown in FIG. 29, it may be determined that whether ornot the vibration is generated or the force is applied after setting theguide path (GP) or irradiating the laser (S300).

As determined result, if the vibration is not generated or the force isnot applied, it may be maintained the predetermined guide path (GP)(S310).

On the other hand, it is determined that the vibration is generated, orthe force is applied, it can measure the vibration and/or the force(S320).

As the measured result, it may be determined that whether the vibrationis generated more than a reference value previously set, or applied theforce over more than a threshold value previously set (S330).

As the measured result, if the vibration is generated more than thereference value, or applied the force over more than the thresholdvalue, it may perform the emergency stop mode (S340). In this case, itis possible to urgently stop the laser irradiation.

On the other hand, if the vibration is generated more less the referencevalue, or applied the force lower more than the threshold value, it mayreset the region of interest (ROI) in consideration of the vibrationand/or the force (S350).

In addition, the guide path (GP) may also be modified corresponding tothe reset of the region of interest (ROI) (S360).

Then, the laser may be irradiated on the surface of the object 400corresponding to the modified guide path (GP) (S370).

For example, the laser irradiation apparatus 10 may be urgently stoppedto stop the laser irradiation where the vibration equal to or largerthan the reference value is generated in the robot arm 100 when someonetouches the laser irradiation apparatus or touches a table on which apatient is lying, or an earthquake occurrence in the course of thetreatment procedure. Alternatively, the laser irradiation apparatus 10may be urgently stopped to stop the laser irradiation, during thetreatment procedure, the user (doctor or the like) finds a procedureerror and holds the robot arm 100 by hand thereby applying the forceequal to or greater than a threshold value to the robot arm 100.

As shown in FIG. 25, when the robot arm 100 having a predetermineddegree of freedom is operated to sequentially irradiate the laser alongthe guide path (GP) on the surface of the object through theend-effector (EE), it is preferable to set the guide path (GP) so thatthe operation of the robot arm 100 may be easily controlled.

For example, it is preferable that the motion of the robot arm 100 orthe motion pattern of the end-effector (EE) may be continuous, and thespeed variation is minimized. In this case, it may be preciselycontrolled according to the guide path (GP) previously set and the laserirradiation points.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the guide path (GP)passes through both the inside and outside of the region of therapy(ROT), and the robot arm 100 is operated at a constant moving speed andby the laser scanning frequency. Therefore, the motion of the robot arm100 or the motion pattern of the end-effector (EE) may be performed withcontinuous and the speed control may be facilitated.

FIG. 30 is a flowchart illustrating the method of controlling the motionpattern for the laser treatment according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention. Referring to FIG. 30, the method of controllingthe motion pattern of the laser irradiation apparatus will be describedin connection with a block diagram of the configuration of theembodiment of the present invention. In the meantime, the description ofthe motion pattern control method for the laser treatment, which is thesame as that described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 29, will be omittedhereunder.

Referring to FIG. 30, the vision controlling unit 210 constitutes thethree-dimensional image of an object (step S2100), and sets the regionof therapy (ROT) in which the laser is irradiated on the surface of theobject using the three-dimensional image.

Thereafter, the vision controlling unit 210 sets the guide path passingthrough the region of therapy (ROT) (step S2120), and sets the pluralityof the laser irradiation points arranged on the guide path (GP) (stepS2130).

The guide path (GP) set in step S2120 may include the first section forentering the region of therapy (ROT), the second section for linearlymoving at the same speed within the region of therapy (ROT), and thethird section for re-entering the region of therapy (ROT) by curving andmoving while changing the speed at the outside of the region of therapy(ROT).

The motion controlling unit 220 controls the robot arm 100 to irradiatethe laser at positions corresponding to the laser irradiation points setat the step S2130 among the surfaces of the object (S2140).

The laser may be irradiated at a constant frequency in the secondsection of the guide path (GP), and the interval between adjacent laserirradiation points may be constantly maintained as the moving speed ofthe end effector (EE) of the robot arm 100 is constantly controlled.

FIGS. 31 to 36 are diagrams for explaining embodiments of the guide path(GP) in which the laser unit of the robot arm 100 is moved. Hereinafter,the case where the region of therapy (ROT) has a rectangular shape isdescribed as an example, but the shape or size of the region of therapy(ROT) may be various.

Referring to FIG. 31, the laser irradiation points may be set to formthe plurality of rows by horizontally and vertically arranging atregular intervals in the region of therapy (ROT).

For example, the plurality of rows of the laser irradiation points maybe present in the region of therapy (ROT), since the laser irradiationpoints PE1, PE2, and PE3 arranged at regular intervals in the verticaldirection constitute the first row R1, and the other laser irradiationpoints arranged in the vertical direction at regular intervals adjacentin the downward direction constitute the second row R1.

In this case, the guide path (GP) includes the first section (GP1) whichmoves from the starting point Ps to a constant velocity (v_1) and entersthe region of therapy (ROT), the second section (GP2) that linearlymoves to the region of therapy (ROT) to a constant velocity (v_2) withinthe region of therapy (ROT), and the third section (GP3) that curves outof the region of therapy (ROT) and re-enters the region of therapy(ROT).

In the second section (GP2) of the guide path (GP), the laser isirradiated while maintaining a predetermined frequency, and then thelaser may be sequentially irradiated with the interval between the laserirradiation points previously set.

In the third section (GP3) of the guide path (GP), the laser is movedalong a curved path while changing the speed from the first row (R1) ofthe laser irradiation points and may enter the second row (R2)immediately adjacent in the vertical direction.

For example, the moving speeds (V_1 and V_2) in the first section (GP1)and the second section (GP2) of the guide path (GP) may be equal to eachother, and the moving speed in the third section (GP3) of the guide path(GP) is gradually decreased from the moving speed (V_2) in the secondsection (GP2) to the constant speed (V_3) to be moved to the farthestposition from the region of therapy (ROT), and is gradually increasedfrom the constant speed (V_3) in the third section (GP3) to the movingspeed (V_2) in the second section (GP2) to enter the second row R2.

As described above, the operation of the robot arm 100 may be moreprecisely controlled in the structure in which the laser is moved andirradiated by the robot arm equipped with the end-effector bymaintaining the constant speed for the motion pattern in the region oftherapy (ROT) and varying the speed coinciding with the curved movementfor the motion pattern outside the region of therapy (ROT).

The laser is irradiated to the first row (R1) and the second row (R2)forming the laser irradiation points and, as shown in FIG. 32, then thesecond section (GP2) and the third section (G3) of the guide path (GP)may be repeated and the irradiation of positions corresponding to allthe laser irradiation points in the region of therapy (ROT) may becompleted.

After the irradiation of the positions corresponding to all of the laserirradiation points is completed, the guide path (GP) may include thefourth section (GP4) for deviating from the region of therapy (ROT) tomove at the end point Pt with a constant speed (V_4).

The moving speed (V_4) in the fourth section (GP4) of the guide path(GP) may be set equal to the moving speeds (V_1 and V_2) in the firstsection (GP1) and the second section (GP2).

Referring to FIGS. 31 and 32, the moving pattern is described undercondition that the laser is irradiated while moving the laser unit ofthe robot arm 100 in both directions, that is, from left to right andfrom right to left. The present invention is not limited thereto,however, and the laser of the robot arm 100 may be irradiated whilemoving in one direction.

According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, in thethird section (GP3) of the guide path (GP), it may be set to move alongthe curved path between two rows which are not adjacent to each other inthe vertical direction among the plurality of rows forming the laserirradiation points.

FIG. 33, in the third section (GP3) of the guide path (GP), the laser ismoved along the curved path while changing the speed out from the firstrow R1 of the laser irradiation points, and the laser may enter theninth raw R9 that is not immediately adjacent in the vertical direction.

Thereafter, the laser is sequentially irradiated on the laserirradiation points of the ninth row R9, and it is possible to enter thesecond row R2 on the upper side which is not just adjacent in thevertical direction by curving and moving from the ninth row R9 whilevarying the speed.

As described above, since the rows, spaced apart from each other withone or more rows, are moving in a curve section moving outside theregion of therapy (ROT), it is possible to precisely control theoperation of the robot arm 100 by increasing the distance of the curvedmovement section. Also, the laser is irradiated the laser irradiationpoints adjacent to each other in a short time, thereby preventing thedeterioration of the skin.

After the laser is irradiated on the first row R1, the ninth row R9 andthe second row R2 forming the laser irradiation points, as shown in FIG.34, the laser irradiation of positions corresponding to all the laserirradiation points in the region of therapy (ROT) may be completed byrepeating the second section (GP2) and the third section (GP3) of theguide path (GP).

Although the present invention has been escribed with reference to FIGS.31 to 34 as an example in which the laser is sequentially irradiated tothe laser irradiation points adjacent to each other, the presentinvention is not limited to this, and the laser irradiation order forthe laser irradiation points may be changed by considering the degree ofpain experienced by the patient.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the laser maybe irradiated by skipping one or more laser irradiation points among theplurality of laser irradiation points forming the same row in the regionof therapy (ROT), and the laser unit of the robot arm 100 may be movedto a row on the previous guide path (GP) to irradiate the laser on theskipped laser irradiation point.

FIGS. 35 and 36 are shown for explaining another embodiment of the guidepath in which the laser unit is moved, and it will be omitted theexplanations of the guide path and the laser irradiation method whichare the same as those described with reference to FIGS. 31 to 34.

Referring to FIG. 35, the guide path (GP) includes the first section(GP1) which moves from a starting point Ps to a fixed speed v_1 andenters the region of therapy (ROT), the second section (GP2) whichirradiates the laser while linearly moving at a constant speed withinthe region of therapy (ROT), the third section (GP3) which moves alongthe curved path out from the region of therapy (ROT) and re-enters theregion of therapy (ROT), the fourth section (GP4) which deviates fromthe region of therapy (ROT) to move at the end point Pt with a constantspeed V_4, and the fifth section (GP5) for moving from the end point Ptto the start point Ps.

In the second section (GP2) of the guide path (GP), the laser may besequentially irradiated by skipping one laser irradiation point amongthe plurality of laser irradiation points.

For this purpose, the speed of moving the laser unit of the robot armmay be faster than that described with reference to FIGS. 31 to 34, orthe laser irradiation frequency may be lower than that described withreference to FIGS. 31 to 34 in the second section (GP2).

Also, the laser is moved along the curved path while varying the speedfrom the first row R1 of the laser irradiation points and entered to thesecond row R2 just adjacent in the vertical direction in the thirdsection (GP3) of the guide path (GP).

After the laser is irradiated on the first row R1 and the second row R2forming the laser irradiation points, the laser irradiation of some ofthe laser irradiation points in the (ROT) may be completed by repeatingthe second section (GP2) and the third section (GP3) of the guide path(GP).

After the laser irradiation is completed to the irradiation of thepositions corresponding to all of the laser irradiation points, theguide path (GP) may include the fourth section for deviating from theregion of therapy (ROT) to move at the end point Pt with a constantspeed (V_4 (GP4).

Thereafter, the laser unit may be moved along the curved path to returnfrom the end point Pt to the start point Ps in the fifth section (GP5)to irradiate the positions of the laser irradiation points in the regionof therapy (ROT) where the laser is not irradiated.

After the laser unit of the robot arm is returned to the starting pointPs, the laser is irradiated on the laser irradiation points which arenot irradiated with the laser along to the guide path (GP) as shown inFIG. 36, then the laser irradiation of all laser irradiation points maybe completed.

The methods of controlling the guide path (GP) and the laser irradiationas described with reference to FIGS. 35 and 36, are for reducing thepain that the patient may feel as continuously irradiating to anadjacent position of the human surface. For example, it may be appliedwhen “painless mode” is selected in the laser irradiation apparatusaccording to the present invention.

In the above description as an example that the laser is irradiatedalthough one of the laser irradiation points is skipped. However, two ormore laser irradiation points may be skipped to be irradiated the laser,thereby further reducing the pain of the patient.

As shown in FIGS. 35 and 36, the laser may be irradiated while movingtwo times the entire region of therapy (ROT) of the patient's face. Inaddition, after the laser may be irradiated to two or more rows, thelaser unit may be returned to the previous row to irradiate on theirradiation points where the laser is not irradiated.

Here, the function of irradiating the laser to the specific point two ormore times may be added by overlappingly irradiating the laser to thepoint where the laser is already irradiated.

The method of irradiating the laser by skipping one or more laserirradiation points may be applied separately from the application of theguide path (GP) which moves along the curved path outside the region oftherapy (ROT).

As described above, it is determined the laser treatment conditions thatwhether to skip several laser irradiation points, to irradiate again thelaser by returning to the previous position after the laser for severalrows is irradiated, or to apply the guide path (GP) which moves alongthe curved path outside the region of therapy (ROT). The laser treatmentconditions may be set according to various conditions such as thepurpose of the treatment, the therapeutic effect, the treatment stage,and the degree of the pain felt by the patient.

However, the movement of the robot arm 100 may be set with thecontinuous motion pattern, even in such a case the movement of the robotarm 100, more specifically, the movement of the joints constituting therobot arm 100 may be discontinuous.

When the laser is irradiated at a position where the motion of the robotarm 100 is discontinuous, and the positions of the laser irradiationpoints previously set may be irregular since the position alreadyirradiated may not be precisely controlled.

Thus, according to another embodiment of the present invention, theposition of at least one of the plurality of laser irradiation pointsmay be adjusted such that the laser is not irradiated at the positionwhere the motion of the robot arm 100 is discontinuous.

FIG. 37 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of the method ofadjusting the position of the laser irradiation point.

Referring to FIG. 37(a), the movement of the robot arm 100 (indicated bya solid line) may be discontinuous depending on an event, and the laserirradiation points (PE2, PE3, and PE4) may be set a position where themovement of the robot arm 100 may be discontinuous.

In this case, the positions of the laser irradiation points PE2, PE3,and PE4 may be adjusted to a position having continuous motion as shownin FIG. 37(b) so that the laser is not irradiated at the position wherethe motion of the robot arm 100 is discontinuous.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described withreference to the laser irradiation apparatus using the robot arm, butthe present invention is not limited thereto.

In addition, it may be applicable to control movement patterns invarious types of apparatus of a gantry type laser irradiation apparatusfor wrapping a patient's face or the laser irradiating apparatus in theshape of a laser array patch attached to a patient's face.

Further, although the present invention is described as the example withreference to the laser irradiation apparatus using the robot arm, thetechnical construction of the present invention may be applicable to avariety of energy based medical device, for treating the skin, using thehigh frequency, ultrasound, IPL (Intense Pulse Light), Psoralen-UV-A(PUVA), etc.

The laser irradiation methods using the robot arm according to thepresent invention may be stored in a computer-readable recording mediummanufactured as a program to be executed in a computer, examples of thecomputer-readable recording medium include ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, a magnetictape, a floppy disc, optical data storage devices, and it is implementedin the form of carrier waves (such as data transmission through theInternet).

Further, the computer-readable recording medium is distributed overnetwork coupled computer systems so that the computer readable code isstored and executed in a distributed fashion. Then, the functional(functional) programs, codes, and code segments for accomplishing thepresent invention can be easily construed by programmers skilled in theart to which the invention pertains.

In this way, the above-described technical construction of the presentinvention it will be appreciated that without the person skilled in theart changing the technical spirit or essential features of the inventionmay be embodied in other specific forms.

Therefore, the embodiment described in the above examples should beunderstood as not be illustrative and not restrictive in all respects,and becomes the scope of the invention is indicated by the claims belowrather than the foregoing description, the meaning and scope of theclaims and all such modifications as derived from the equivalent conceptbe construed as being included in the scope of the invention.

1. A method of controlling a motion pattern for a laser treatment, themethod comprising: constituting a three-dimensional image of an object;setting a region of therapy on which a laser is irradiated on a surfaceof the object using the three-dimensional image; setting a guide pathpassing through the region of therapy; setting a plurality of laserirradiation points arranged on the guide path; and sequentiallyirradiating the laser on a position corresponding to each of the laserirradiation point among the surface of the object; wherein the guidepath includes a first section for entering the region of therapy, asecond section for linearly moving at the same speed within the regionof therapy, and a third section for reentering to the region of therapyby moving along a curved path while varying the speed outside the regionof therapy; and the laser is irradiated at a constant frequency in thesecond section.
 2. The method of controlling a motion pattern accordingto claim 1, wherein the second section and the third section arerepeated a plurality of times in the guide path, and further include afourth section for deviating from the region of therapy.
 3. The methodof controlling a motion pattern according to claim 1, wherein the laserirradiation points are arranged horizontally and vertically at regularintervals in the region of therapy to form a plurality of rows, and thethird section of the guide path is set to move along a curved pathbetween two rows of the plurality of rows.
 4. The method of controllinga motion pattern according to claim 3, wherein the third section is setto move along a curved path between two rows adjacent to each other inthe vertical direction among the plurality of rows.
 5. The method ofcontrolling a motion pattern according to claim 3, wherein the thirdsection is set to move along a curved path between two rows of theplurality of rows that are not adjacent to each other in the verticaldirection.
 6. The method of controlling a motion pattern according toclaim 1, wherein the moving speed in the third section is graduallydecreased from a first speed to a second speed as a moving speed in thesecond section, and gradually increased from the second speed to thefirst speed.
 7. The method of controlling a motion pattern according toclaim 1, wherein the laser is irradiated by a robot arm equipped with anend-effector.
 8. The method of controlling a motion pattern according toclaim 7, further comprising a step of adjusting a position of at leastone of the plurality of laser irradiation points so that the laser isnot irradiated at a position where the motion of the robot arm isdiscontinuous.
 9. The method of controlling a motion pattern accordingto claim 1, wherein the guide path further comprises a spiral guide pathpassing through the region of therapy.
 10. A recording medium on which aprogram for causing a computer to execute the method according to claim1 is recorded.
 11. An apparatus of controlling a motion pattern for alaser treatment, the apparatus comprising: a vision controlling unit forconstituting a three-dimensional image of an object, and for setting aregion of therapy irradiated the laser on the surface of the object, aguide path passing through the region of therapy, and laser irradiationpoints arranged on the guide path; a laser unit for sequentiallyirradiating the laser to a position corresponding to the laserirradiation points in the surface of the object; and a motioncontrolling unit for controlling movement of the laser unit and laserirradiation based on the set guide path and the laser irradiationpoints; wherein the guide path includes a first section for entering theregion of therapy, a second section for linearly moving at the samespeed within the region of therapy, and a third section for reenteringto the region of therapy by moving along a curved path while varying thespeed outside the region of therapy; and the laser is irradiated at aconstant frequency in the second section.
 12. The apparatus ofcontrolling a motion according to 11, wherein the second section and thethird section are repeated a plurality of times in the guide path, andfurther include a fourth section for deviating from the region oftherapy.
 13. The apparatus of controlling a motion according to 11,wherein the laser irradiation points are arranged horizontally andvertically at regular intervals in the region of therapy to form aplurality of rows, and the third section of the guide path is set tomove along a curved path between two rows of the plurality of rows. 14.The apparatus of controlling a motion according to 13, wherein the thirdsection is set to move along a curved path between two rows adjacent toeach other in the vertical direction among the plurality of rows. 15.The apparatus of controlling a motion according to 13, wherein the thirdsection is set to move along a curved path between two rows of theplurality of rows that are not adjacent to each other in the verticaldirection.
 16. The apparatus of controlling a motion according to 11,wherein the moving speed in the third section is gradually decreasedfrom a first speed to a second speed as a moving speed in the secondsection, and gradually increased from the second speed to the firstspeed.
 17. The apparatus of controlling a motion according to 11,wherein the laser unit includes a robot arm equipped with anend-effector.
 18. The apparatus of controlling a motion according to 17,wherein the vision controlling unit adjusts a position of at least oneof the plurality of laser irradiation points so that the laser is notirradiated at a position where the motion of the robot arm isdiscontinuous.
 19. The apparatus of controlling a motion according to11, wherein the guide path further comprises a spiral guide path passingthrough the region of therapy.